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United States Patent | 5,134,560 |
Ferriter ,   et al. | July 28, 1992 |
A method and system are disclosed for the efficient generation of manufacturing process plans. A visual image of at least a portion of a selected product is captured or generated and displayed on a portion of the video display of a computer system. A library of iconic representations of manufacturing process steps is also displayed, each having a stored textual instruction associated therewith. By utilizing a graphical pointing device, the operator may select a location within the visual image and thereafter select the iconic representation of the manufacturing step desired. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the operator may selectively alter the textual instruction utilizing a known text editor. In the depicted embodiment of the present invention, the textual instructions are automatically sequentially numbered and stored for later use by a manufacturing technician during the manufacturing process. The visual image of the selected product is also altered to include reference numerals corresponding to each sequentially numbered textual instruction.
Inventors: | Ferriter; Kate M. (Atlanta, GA); Krosner; Stephen P. (Marietta, GA); Laszcz; John F. (Marietta, GA); Withers; David H. (Roswell, GA) |
Assignee: | International Business Machines Corporation (Armonk, NY) |
Appl. No.: | 425786 |
Filed: | October 23, 1989 |
Current U.S. Class: | 700/83; 715/821; 715/835 |
Intern'l Class: | G06F 015/46 6 |
Field of Search: | 364/474.24,518-521,474.25,146,188,189,190,468,474.20,474.21,474.22,474.23,474.2 340/723,747 395/155,159 |
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